¶ Mobile Mesh Nodes
Portable nodes are what you carry on your body, clip to a pack, or hand to campmates. The goal is reliable Meshtastic access on playa without dragging around more radio than you need.
Discount codes are maintained on the 2026 Discount Codes page.
Also please remember to buy the 915mhz version of the radio's if presented with the option at checkout - that is the version that works/is legal to use in the US.
¶ DIY vs Buy
| DIY | Buy |
|---|---|
| DIY nodes are a cheap way of getting exactly what you want. You're going to need access to a 3D printer and maybe a soldering iron. | There are many pre-made mesh devices ranging from cheap to too expensive. Depending on what you want, you're probably going to be between these devices. |
¶ SenseCAP T1000-E
Price: $39.90 — $31.92 with 20% off code SeeedBurningMesh2026
¶ Pro's
- Inbuilt GPS. If you're using Meshtastic with your phone, your phone's GPS can provide location to the mesh, so a dedicated GPS radio is not necessary.
- Actually weather/dustproof — moreso than most other prebuilt nodes.
- Well-respected nRF52840 LoRa radio.
- Best performance for a device with no external antenna.
- Very good value, especially with the 2026 Seeed Studio discount code.
¶ Con's
- Battery life is bad. You're looking at about a day on playa; this will probably be annoying unless you're the kind of person who carries a backpack and USB battery around.
- Uses a non-standard USB charging cable, presumably to keep its waterproofness. If you lose this on playa, you're screwed.
- Range is limited compared to devices with external antennas. This must be kept on the outside of a pack and high up on the body to be effective.
¶ WisMesh Tag
Price: $50 — $45 with 10% off Rokland Burning Mesh collection code on the discount page
¶ Pro's
- Compact, credit-card-sized Meshtastic tracker.
- Meshtastic pre-flashed.
- nRF52840 ultra-low-power core with SX1262 LoRa radio.
- Built-in GPS/GNSS module.
- Integrated LoRa, BLE, and GPS antennas.
- 1000mAh internal battery.
- IP66-rated enclosure, which is a meaningful improvement for dust and weather resistance.
- Magnetic charging port.
- Reset/bootloader button, which makes firmware recovery and updates less annoying than devices without accessible boot controls.
- Just think of it as a slightly larger T1000 with a larger battery and a reset button that is more expensive.
¶ Con's
- Integrated antennas mean range still depends heavily on keeping it outside your pack and high on your body.
- Magnetic charging cable is another special cable to keep track of.
¶ WisMesh Pocket V2
Price: $84.97 — $76.47 with 10% off Rokland Burning Mesh collection code on the discount page
¶ Pro's
- Uses RAK-based boards, which are regarded to be some of the best on the market.
- Inbuilt GPS.
- A screen, if this is important to you.
- External antenna and ability to add your own better antenna.
- Case designed in conjunction with a lead Meshtastic project contributor.
- Giganto battery; with GPS turned off it may last most of the burn on a single charge.
- It probably won't be OK if you submerge it completely in water, but it will most likely be fine on playa.
¶ Con's
- Premium price.
¶ Wio Tracker L1 Pro
Price: $51.99 — $41.59 with 20% off code SeeedBurningMesh2026
¶ Pro's
- Decent sized battery.
- Uses a very power-efficient board.
- Has a screen/joystick for navigating the UI. Not super useful for our use case, but nice.
- External antenna/upgradable antenna.
- Pretty cheap for what it is, especially with the 2026 Seeed Studio discount code.
¶ Con's
- It comes with a kind of flimsy antenna that is worth replacing.
- The buttons are really easy to press; you might end up sending a message or rebooting the node by accident if you don't cover them.
¶ Recommended External Antenna
¶ Generic Meshtastic 915MHz 10dBi antenna
This is our recommended external antenna for mobile nodes. It is cheap, flexible, and works very well on playa.
Important: make sure you buy the version with the right connector for your radio, such as SMA-F, SMA-M, RP-SMA, etc. Check your device before ordering.
¶ Nodes to Avoid
¶ Heltec Capsule Sensor
- Has a microscopic battery.
- Uses a weird board that people don't like.
- Antenna is shit.
¶ Heltec V2/V3 or any devices based on it
- Eats battery.
- Gets hot.
- When the battery gets low, some hardware versions corrupt their own firmware.
¶ LilyGO T-Beam
- Old hardware.
- Incredibly awkward shape for carrying.
- Good only if you need the Wi-Fi functionality.
- Eats battery.
¶ Station G2 as a portable device
- You don't need 1W TX power for a portable device.
- Its receive sensitivity is reported to be dubious.
- Personal experience: I had one shit itself at the burn last year.
¶ LilyGO T-Echo
- Everyone who showed up to the mesh meetup with one of these needed firmware reflashing because some combination of hard use, dust, and heat made the firmware corrupt itself.
- Battery is meh.
- This is not the worst thing in the world if you already have it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to buy one.